Old Secrets of an Ordinary Sailor
by wildcard777jp
Summary: He was the one constant. Lazy, loyal, overprotective, grumpy, and predictable. Until an old enemy strikes too close to home, and his family realizes they don't really know him at all.
1. Chapter 1

Old Secrets of an Ordinary Sailor

((Possible Spoilers) Hello again. This was another idea I had floating around in my brain. After season 2 of Ducktales I felt like getting it on paper. I haven't abandoned anything, this is kind of like releasing the pressure on my brain for the ideas to flow better.

This is, at the moment, a one-shot. But I could be convinced to continue if anyone seems interested. Or if anyone feels like taking the reins and continuing, feel free.

Donald Duck became my favorite of the anthropomorphic Disney characters, and I have spent a while recently obsessing over comics, games, and of course animations.

The Duck Universe is vast, and spans continents. Some of my favorite stories are the Paperinik or Duck Avenger tales. I am hoping they incorporate that somehow in the new Ducktales series, but I doubt they will. -More after the story.-)

-DD

It was 2 in the morning when his burglar alarm rang.

"Ach, me bin", Scrooge McDuck mumbled to himself as he rolled out of his bed and half stumbled, half ran to his coat and hat. Duckworth materialized next to him as he grabbed his cane and opened his door.

"Shall I alert the others, sir?" the gentleduck's gentleman inquired while floating and keeping up with his employer.

Scrooge was about to tell him not to bother until he reached the main stairway.

At the base stood his family. Della, his niece, practically vibrated with excitement despite the early hours. She had been reunited with everyone for a few short years, but that did nothing to quell her thirst for adventure and action. A late-night robbery got her fired up better than a cup of coffee.

Standing around her were her triplets, Huey, Dewey and Louie. Dewey, dressed in blue sweat pants and t-shirt mirrored his mother behind him, aside from the bags under his eyes. Huey, his red cap askew on his head, leaned against his mother for support as he snored. Louie stood on the other side of Della and glared straight ahead at nothing. He scratched under his green tank top and occasionally took a drink from some energy concoction the kids had wasted money on.

Mrs. Beakley appeared ready for anything, always alert no matter the time.

Webby, Beakley's granddaughter, hopped from one foot to the other in anticipation between her grandmother and roommate.

Said roommate, Lena LeStrange, stared bloodshot into her phone like some sort of zombie.

"I think they're alerted Duckworth", Scrooge said with fond sarcasm. It took over a decade, but his family was whole and bigger than ever.

But someone was missing…

The group turned their heads to an unholy sound coming from some creature at the top of the stairs. Its long ears swayed back and forth as it continued its horrible cry. They watched as the creature got louder and began hopping around in frustration.

Predictably, the creature missed a step and began hurtling down the stairs. The group parted as the creature hit the floor and slid between them to stop at Scrooge's feet.

Out from the hole on top came a dizzied face, and arms from the "creature's" ears. As he sat up a sailor's hat floated down, tossed during the fall, and landed on the head of Donald Duck.

"Stop fooling around Donald", Scrooge used his cane to grab his nephew by the back of his black sailor uniform and lifted him to his feet. The cane was spun around to poke the younger duck in the stomach, "Me money bin's being plundered!"

Scrooge rallied the others and lead them to his limo, "Duckworth, make sure they turned all their lights out! I'm not hosting a disco party!"

Duckworth tilted his head in compliance, "very well, sir."

DD-PK-DA

Donald drove the limo, having become his uncle's chauffeur since Launchpad moved to with his actor friend a few years back.

The others were in varying states of wakefulness, but no one wanted to pass up defending the bin. Except perhaps Lena who continued to stare at her phone and be led around by Webby tugging on her sleeve.

"Can't ye hurry any faster Donald?" Scrooge rapped the floor with the head of his cane.

"Keep your kilt on Uncle Scrooge", Donald squawked with a yawn. "The traps will slow them down. Plenty of time to get there."

"Never assume nephew", Scrooge admonished. It was one of the many lessons he's repeatedly tried to instill in his lazy kin. "I would not like to waste any of the devices if we could get there quicker. Do ye know the cost of bear traps? Why, during me time in the Klondike…"

Those riding in the back paid differing levels of attention to the old tale from Scrooge's past. Donald tried to coax a little more speed from the vehicle to avoid hearing another spendthrift story.

Arriving a few minutes later, the ducks piled out of the limo and separated into teams.

Della gathered the triplets together, Mrs. Beakley reigned in Webby who continued to drag a still zonked out Lena, and that left Scrooge with Donald. Scrooge opened the doors and deactivated the internal traps and the three teams moved in separate directions to try and find the intruder.

The Duck and McDuck checked the large safe door and found it still locked. Scrooge opened the door and looked inside. From what he could tell, no coins or greenbacks had been so much as touched by a stray breeze.

"They might be in one of me collections", Scrooge moved with purpose to the elevator. Donald followed behind, casting his sleepy gaze into the shadowed hallways.

"Why don't you turn the lights on and flush out whoever is here?" Donald questioned his uncle from his post leaning on the wall of the elevator.

"What?" Scrooge turned to Donald like his nephew grew a second head. "And give away the element of surprise? If ye need light lad, I have a candle right here." He pulled a small stub of wax with what looked like thread sticking out of it. "Five dollars."

Donald waved what barely passed as a candle away. "You just don't want to pay the extra nickel on the light bill", he groused under his breathe.

The duo moved down a few floors and exited into a dark, empty hallway. Della and the boys were on one of the floors above, searching through the offices in case the intruder or intruders were after information from McDuck Industries vast resources. Team Beakley had moved down to his private collections, the items Scrooge wouldn't display in the museum. Scrooge would bet his nephew's next paycheck that it was one of his treasures that was being targeted.

Uncle and nephew carefully tiptoed down the hall and found Mrs. Beakley carefully listening next to a closed doorway. Webby, with her night-vision goggles in place, scanned down the hall to cover their party. Lena had given up and fallen asleep on the floor nearby.

Beakley motioned for Scrooge and Donald to approach. The two placed the side of their heads to the door and heard definite movement within.

"This dinnae make sense", the elder duck whispered. "The keypad and scanner dinnae look to be tampered with. The room has no windows and only this entrance. How did they get inside?"

"What would be in here that they would go to all the trouble?" Donald questioned.

Scrooge paused for a moment to plumb his steel trap of a memory. There were personal treasures, maps and charts, cursed items, ancient weapons…

He pushed the others away and frantically typed his 30-digit passcode. Next, he scanned his left eye, then his right, then the front face of his Number One Dime, then turned it around and scanned the back. Finally, the door opened.

The four rushed in (Lena remained in a deep sleep) and were nearly blinded.

There was only one intruder. He stood tall, an inch or two taller than Mrs. Beakley. He was clad mostly in red with a flowing purple cape. His face appeared slightly scarred in the light of a nearby floating orb. He had been rummaging through cabinets and drawers when the group entered.

The thief did not appear surprised at their sudden entrance and turned to them with a grin.

The audacity! Scrooge turned to his nephew wondering why he had not moved to apprehend this cretin and paused in shock.

Knowing Donald most of the younger duck's life, Scrooge thought he had catalogued every expression and response his nephew was capable of. Facing an intruder in the money bin, Scrooge expected Donald to be every bit as livid as he was legendarily known for. Barring that, bill chattering fear or sheer apathy because sometimes even his face was too lazy to work.

But the change in his demeanor was unlike anything he had seen in his nephew before.

After the initial shock Donald's eyes squinted in clear, laser-like, focus. The vein that usually throbbed in rage was nowhere to be seen. His hands, usually grasping the air looking for something to rend, were clenched with purpose.

Scrooge marveled in that split second. Gone was the obstinate berserker. In his place was the protector of family, the fighter that took on armies of Beagle Boys and shadow creatures, the Navy Boxing Champion during his tour of duty.

Donald grabbed the nearest item, an old WWII disc emblazoned with the red, white, and blue, and took a purposeful step forward. "RAIDER!"

The thief waved his hand, "Avenger old friend! Good to see- WARK!"

Raider was cut off by the single starred disc flying fast with unerring accuracy into some device on his wrist. Sparks flew from it into Raider's face, shutting off the light orb and blinding him from Donald's approach.

The disc ricocheted back to Donald mid run. The duck caught it and slipped it on his arm by the straps and continued to move like a rocket toward Raider.

The last thing Raider saw before being knocked back by the feathered powerhouse was determined eyes above the rim of a charging star.

Scrooge turned on the light and him, Beakley, Webby, and a now awakened Lena watched wide-eyed as the two combatants grappled and fought around the stored items. Raider used his size to his advantage in the close-quarters, But Donald was quick and had years of experience fighting towering foes.

Bentina Beakley, like her employer, was wondering where this side of the slothful sailor had sprung from. She was privy to S.H.U.S.H. files pertaining to his history, even though his file had a bit more holes than most. She had even heard that he had past association with the mysterious "Agency", but the Agency and S.H.U.S.H. kept their dealings separate and highly confidential.

This was not the man she had slowly come to respect. This was a fighter with more secrets than anyone believed.

Della, Huey, Dewey, and Louie had heard the commotion and finally made it behind the onlookers. The triplets squeezed past and similarly stood gob smacked by the sight of their normally lazy uncle moving like a viper, trading blows with the assumed intruder.

Della took it in stride. She moved in front of the group and picked up one of the scattered items, an antique looking clock.

"Hey, bologna beak!" She chucked the clock at Raider while her kids shook their heads in embarrassment at their mother's lame taunt.

Raider leapt over a rushing Donald. He released his cape, letting Donald get tangled in it, and caught the thrown clock. "Thank you my dear, exactly what I was looking for."

Donald let out a muffled shout of protest as Raider fiddled with the damaged controls on his wrist. An energy seemed to cover the thief and he looked down to his still struggling adversary.

"It was good to see you again Avenger. Family life suits your dulled edge", Raider taunts as he slowly begins to fade away.

Donald rolls out of the cape and onto his feet, hurling his weapon in one full motion.

Raider laughs as the disc passes through his immaterial form and imbeds in an old red and gold suit of medieval armor.

"Ha! The damage you inflicted may have kept me anchored to this time, but with this that is no longer an issue", the villain boasts. "And your retired friend is in no position to help. I've won this one Avenger."

Donald glares at the smirking figure until all trace of him disappears. Seething, he turns and marches straight to his uncle. They lock eyes while everyone else gives them plenty of space, unsure of what could happen.

The calm Scrooge McDuck expected shouting, flailing, and maybe even threats.

THIS Donald however, does none of that.

His anger and frustration are kept tightly bottled. Staring deep into his uncle's eyes Donald can voice only one thing. "You told me you had gotten rid of the time clock", the quiet statement seems to echo around their audience.

"I said I would take care of it", Scrooge lets a little pride show at being sharper than his nephew once more. "I would see that no soul other than meself would know what happened to it."

And he did. There were no records and no witnesses. After Donald found out about his trip through time with Dewey, Donald had been even more livid than usual about the dangers. Mrs. Beakley had later told him she had expected the ordeal to come to blows.

Scrooge had agreed that the clock was powerful and dangerous. He promised his nephew that he would handle everything.

Through clever wordplay (not lying, he would always make it square) Donald was finally convinced he could trust his uncle to get rid of the clock.

Scrooge had made sure no one could follow any record of its existence in his possession. Under the cover of night, and carrying every magic surveillance deterrent he knew of, Scrooge used a rowboat and carried the clock to his bin. He knew where every mine and pitfall were covered and walked through the entrance. He sealed the clock in an almost impregnable lockbox in one of his most secured vaults. He had spent hours learning tricks from Gyro Gearloose so he could erase all trace of his visit from technological means. He would later blame the slight gap on lazy programing, no one questioned it.

He took every precaution, so, "how did this hoodlum know it was here?"

"He's a damn time criminal! He probably traced its existence to this point, so it wouldn't affect the timestream when he made the grab!" Donald finally exploded in his uncle's face. The intensity was enough to knock the top hat off the elder duck's head.

"How do you know all this Donnie?" Della questioned her brother. All those present appeared to wonder the same thing.

"And how'd you learn to fight like that? I don't think any of that was covered in the Junior Woodchuck Guidebook", Huey asked in awe. Dewey and Louie stood next to their brother with beaks wide open still in shock.

Webby appeared to be bursting with unasked questions.

She had seemed over her little crush and hero-worship of him years ago. He told her all his adventuring "achievements" were really Della's and Uncle Scrooge likely used him to cover it up while she was missing. When Della returned and finally got settled, she was victim of the young lady's relentless quest for their family's history.

Now however that fervor returned with a vengeance. And the same intense focus was reflected in her grandmother's glare. When they stood side-to-side like that you could definitely see the relation.

Lena seemed less interested but still pointed her phone at him and was looking at her screen.

_Wait, phone?_

Donald suddenly burst into action startling all those around him.

His dash towards Lena was misinterpreted by Mrs. Beakley who quickly moved between them to defend the teen.

Donald dipped low and Bentina moved to block the expected slide. In a jolt Donald leaped over her, using her shoulders as a springboard. He landed and swiped the phone from Lena's fearful hands. While moving out of range he erased all footage from his fight with Raider and everything after.

Looking up he noticed the three adults had moved in front of the others, to protect them.

_From me._

"S- sorry Lena", he stuttered. The mix of uncertainty and apprehension in their faces twisted like a hot blade in his gut. He moved forward to give the phone back, but Mrs. Beakley further pushed the younger girls behind her.

The act broke Donald's heart.

He slowly put the phone on the ground and began to walk out, ignoring his sister's call of "Donnie" and took off in a sprint once he was outside the room.

He had messed up. He had spent so long out of the game his old instincts worked against him.

Making it outside he moved to hide under the bridge connecting to Duckberg.

Seeing Raider again was a surprise but seeing him so close to his family made his blood boil.

He pulled out his phone looking for a number, Raider's taunt about his friend still rang in his ears.

The sound of the limo's engine starting let him know they were going back home. Good, they weren't going to look for him. He didn't feel like he was ready to answer any of their questions at the moment.

He found the number at the same time the limo drove overhead. A small stone was dislodged and fell on him, leaving a nasty bump. Those kinds of things never seemed to happen when he had worn the mask.

He mumbled to himself, "who gets stuck with all the bad luck?"

Nursing his goose egg, he dialed the number and tried to relax on the rocks.

He reached her voicemail, "hey, it's Donald. There was a run-in with a friend of ours. I know you're usually busy reporting the news, but I would like to talk if we can. He mentioned you being retired? He didn't specify so I was hoping to hear about it from you. Talk to you later, Lyla."

-DD

(This story is set a few years after Della returns, and of course Donald has returned from the moon. Lena has been properly adopted but retains the LeStrange name. Everyone is over any kind of Donald vs Della parenting drama that seems to be setting itself up in the series. Pretty much everyone is a little older and a little wiser.

I'm incorporating some PK into this, Donald's untold (to his family) past. I am mostly going off the different medias, but I do make occasional assumptions.

Webby, being a young girl, could have a slight crush/hero worship of Donald. Similar to a boy band craze. And given this Donald, who tries to downplay his heroism traits, I see pushing it off on Della.

Donald being a champion boxer in his navy days doesn't seem like to much of a stretch. And he never seems to talk about his stint, so keeping it to himself makes sense to me.

As always, I try to encourage everyone to support official releases of the subject matter, which in this case would be Donald Duck, Ducktales, and anything related to them.

Sorry, you might need to look up a few things to get the full scope at this time.

To anyone who made it this far, I hope you enjoyed.)

Sorry for the couple of reposts. Using my phone to FFN seemed to take some words away and added weird stuff. Hopefully this last post fixes it.


	2. Chapter 2

Old Secrets of an Ordinary Sailor

.

Thank you everyone for the positive feedback. People keep asking me to continue this, so I guess I got to give in to peer pressure.

I had a vague kind of timeline in my head before I typed the first chapter. Anyone who has read "Amazing Peter Parker" might notice I like to blend a lot of history together and make, sometimes reasonable often wild, connections between continuities, people, events, and sometimes different media.

So hopefully without spoiling too much of what I may type in the future, how about a little backstory?

The story is set in Ducktales 2017, a few years after Della returned and Donald's eventual return. That bit a drama has already been written and probably will continue to be written by better authors than I.

I don't know what happened to Donald and Della's parents, so until that is resolved Hortense and Quackmore will rarely be mentioned. Grandma Duck, Elvira, will have had a hand in raising the twins. And to anyone new or not as informed about the HUGE Duck-Verse that has been established over the decades, Grandma Duck and Scrooge McDuck are not related. Elvira is Donald's paternal grandmother, and Scrooge is his maternal uncle.

Donald has been seen in the show not wanting to do EVERYTHING with Della, so he has a bit of a breakout once he got old enough. He ran with Goofy and Mickey getting into trouble and doing odd jobs since I don't see Scrooge footing any bill.

A few years before the triplets are born the beginning of the "The Legend of the Three Caballeros" happens. I recommend everyone to watch it. I won't spoil anything, but this is how Donald meets Jose and Panchito. After the show (let's say Donald is never offered a particular job at the end) the three of them form a band and travel around. Daisy was in a few of the episodes, so I might play off that a bit.

Speaking of Daisy, (WARNING! A PERSONAL OPINION IS APPROACHING!) I am not a fan of her in certain circumstances.

In my opinion, she's either too ditzy or too finicky. I preferred her characterization in Quackpack. She was confident and mature, and I liked her design much better. Also liked her design in Disney's House of Mouse, but this is where I think she was too bubbly and ditzy. There is that cartoon of her where she is shaded pinkish and she makes out with Donald behind a tree he carved their initials in. On the other side, there is several more initial carvings presumably of her and different guys. Again, I liked her design but not her characterization. And she has been shown bouncing between Donald and Gladstone in the comics. She probably will be in the story but if you are a big fan of Donald x Daisy you might not like where this goes.

Besides, I have a different lady in mind for our boy.

So, Donald bounces between his own thing and adventuring with Della and Scrooge, and I think that's what makes Della and Scrooge the fine-tuned machine and Donald the squeaky third wheel. They obviously love him, but he wasn't around all the time, so they tried to fit him in to their plans. Usually as the distraction or "gopher". All three are equally competent in their own right, but it ended up a kind of awkward 2 against 1 situation.

Eventually the "Spear of Selene" happens and Donald leaves with the eggs. He goes to Grandma Duck first and she helps raise them after they hatch. To try and fit it into the picture Donald shows to Gabby, he stays with Grandma Duck until the boys start walking. Donald realizes he'll have to be financially responsible, so he works it out with his grandmother. This is where he enlists with the Navy.

While with the Navy every spare cent he makes goes to his grandmother to help with the boys or to be saved. He boxes and earns extra money betting on himself. He's extra tenacious cause it is for the boys. To save some timeline, he'll have an honorable discharge after about 2 years and return to Grandma's house. I wanted him to have actual Navy experience.

After returning he spends time with Grandma Duck and the triplets while working every job he can. When Huey, Dewey, and Louie turn about 5 or 6 Donald has saved up enough for the houseboat.

This is where I'll be bending the Duck-Verse the most.

Donald receives the fated letter giving ownership of Villa Rosa. It was intended for Gladstone, but Donald keeps it. Grandma Duck often babysits, so he visits the villa and finds all the things that he uses to become Paperinik, the Duck Avenger. He still pranks Scrooge and Gladstone and others, but this time he doesn't interact with them as DONALD until later (in the 2017 series). He still wants nothing to do with Scrooge at this point. This is where he starts playing up his laziness to help keep his two identities separate. To reiterate, Duck Avenger had terrorized a few people and Donald Duck never dealt with them in person until later.

After the pranks Donald decides to keep the costume and to clean up crime in Duckberg, once again all for the triplets. He fights the Beagle Boys and others and meets Gyro Gearloose. Gyro thinks of it as a challenge to equip the Duck Avenger and creates a few gadgets including Car-Can, the candy that can delete short-term memory. Quickly getting bored and when feeling distracted Gyro takes Car-Can so he can forget the Duck Avenger and focus on his real work again. Donald also establishes several times that he has a friendship with "Duck Avenger" and manages to be seen with him at the same time on several occasions.

At some point Donald finds a job at the Ducklair Building, which he finds later was bought by his uncle. He wants to quit but needs the money, so he stays and manages to avoid his uncle completely and Scrooge doesn't find that Donald was working for him. He discovers the hidden floor and "IDW Duck Avenger" (more accurately, the larger number of the PKNA comics) happens for the most part. There are no direct dealings with Scrooge and Donald keeps his work life and his "work" life separate from his home life. The multitude of characters are never introduced to Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Same eventually goes for the "Double Duck" series that occurs when Donald retires the Duck Avenger.

Daisy and Donald are on-again, off-again throughout this and she DOES know the boys. Her and her nieces don't remember his adventures with Jose and Panchito thanks to Xandra, Goddess of Adventure, wiping bits of their memory to keep the secrets of Clinton Coots' cabana better hidden.

For the most part, any time Duck Avenger is in space it is far from Earth or generally not near the moon. He doesn't think to look for Della's ship because he has spent years trying to move on and he's fighting aliens and doesn't think about it.

Everett Ducklair leaves and returns and eventually leaves again, this time taking almost everything from the building and shunting most everything else into another, safer, dimension. All Donald keeps after saying goodbye to Everett and One is the X-Transformer shield. After using it for a while it loses power, so Donald hides it and retires the costume.

Uncle Scrooge and Donald still do not interact while Donald is a spy for the Agency during "Double Duck". Donald does a few missions and retires from there as well.

A year or two later is where Ducktales 2017 picks up. His overprotectiveness in the series is very real. Mrs. Beakley suspects Donald is more than he seems but cannot find definitive proof and has let it go until the beginning of this story. Same with Webby, who idolized Donald from the little snippets she has discovered of the Duck/McDuck family. Donald gives credit of his accomplishments to Della, who after spending a decade on the moon legitimately does not remember all the things she has done in her life so agrees, because she thinks the stories sound like something she would do.

Della returns, Donald leaves then comes back, Lena is officially adopted (I'm of the opinion she is somehow the daughter of Poe, Magica's brother), and the family becomes whole and continues to go on adventures.

Launchpad moves to with Drake Mallard after convincing him to be a superhero. He leaves Della to be Scrooge's pilot, forgetting that he ALSO drove the limo which becomes Donald's job.

And that brings us to the beginning of "Old Secrets of an Ordinary Sailor". If anyone finds a hole or has questions feel free to message, and I hope to get another chapter out soon.

.

(Just so this won't be ALL backstory establishing…)

Donald walked a mile into Duckberg and was about to find a cozy box to collapse into.

He contemplated going back to the mansion, back to his family, but he needed time to think.

How would he explain all his actions?

His musings were cut short by the text alert on his phone.

-your message sounded serious-

-when did you want to meet?-

The duck checked his surroundings. A bank sign nearby flashed '19:34 AM', obviously having some sort of short. It was about 3:30 in the morning. He reviewed his mental map of the city. He WAS only 3 blocks away and she was already up.

His fingers flew over his screen.

-is now ok?-


	3. Chapter 3

[So, apologies.

With everything going on and a recent personal tragedy, I haven't been writing very much.

Still have some ideas floating around but no definitive schedule planned.

If anyone is still interested I'll keep trying to post new stuff. It just may be a bit more sporadic than usual.

And to show you I'm not a complete jerk, here's a new chapter.]

Scrooge McDuck sat behind his desk and thought.

He always said he was smarter than the smarties, right?

So why did this mystery stump him so much?

After they returned from the Money Bin most of the household went back to bed. Della, like her boys, snored like a freight train as soon as her head hit her pillow. The girls likewise went back to bed, though Webby had to run her energy out tying string on her new "Donald" board. Mrs. Beakley was still awake, possibly contemplating the same problem Scrooge was right now.

What in the haggis had gotten into Donald?

Scrooge sat in his chair long after dawn and the light spilled in through the window. Duckworth had brought in his favorite tea almost exactly when the sun began to rise, and Scrooge sipped it while considering every angle of last night's events.

He turned his attention to his door when he heard the familiar "flap-clank" of his niece's stride.

The door opened, and Della walked in dressed casually in t-shirt and shorts. Her fatigue had been slept off and she appeared ready for anything. "Any news on Donnie yet?"

The elder duck raised a brow as his niece hopped to sit at the corner of his desk and poured herself a cup. "Nay lass, your delinquent brother has not seen fit to tell m- us anything."

Della caught the slip but did not remark. A decade missing, but over time she quickly retrained her instincts.

Her uncle was worried. He had been ever since she returned. And later when they realized Donald never made it to his cruise.

She did not miss how he spent money, ACTUAL MONEY, to keep the entire family in the mansion after they had all been reunited. Anything they wanted Scrooge would send for, sparing no expense.

She finally had to confront him about it after she caught him struggling to purchase Louie a diamond studded pen set. She thought he was about to have an actual heart attack signing the first three letters of his name on the check.

"Fine", Louie had fake whined knowing the jig was up, "I guess I'll have to go OUT and find one myself."

After she shooed him out the door she and her uncle had a long chat. Eventually the entire family, adopted family included of course, came together and heard Scrooge's concerns. They had a big meeting like you see in those family movies about "looking out for each other" and stuff.

And NO secrets.

Looked like Donald had his fingers crossed when they agreed on that one.

"Could he have gone to Daisy's?" She remembered the woman her brother had mooned over.

"Nay", Scrooge shook his head slightly while staring into his cooling coffee. "She is dating Gladstone at the moment", he said with a frown. He liked her, liked her character, but he didn't like how she seemed to string Donald along. His nephew was a grown man however, and if he didn't want advice about his love life, Scrooge wouldn't butt in.

"Ah", Della's frown matched her uncle's. "What about Gladstone's?"

"It was announced that he won the free cruise yesterday", Scrooge snorted. "I'm positive he took Daisy along."

Della sat there and tried to come up with another option Donald could have taken. "He could have rented a room somewhere."

Scrooge considered that. He had called around asking the local hotels if anyone matching Donald's description had rented a room. So far there had been no sign of him.

The World's Richest Duck also tried to track his nephew's charge card. He had come upon the idea years ago to pay Donald and then also Della directly to their accounts and made sure they had gotten special cards he could locate if they were used. Just to make sure they were not spending frivolously he had assured himself.

"No hotel, boarding house, nor kennel have reported a temperamental sailor", the elder duck glared at the phone on his desk willing it to ring with news.

Always upbeat and unstoppable Della gave a small laugh, "well no news is good news. If he had found trouble half of Duckberg would have heard about it."

Scrooge chuckled as well. No one could ever accuse Donald of being quiet.

Still, where could he have disappeared to?

\- Ducktales -

Benita Beakley sipped her tea and typed another password onto her laptop.

She had another 5 minutes before the device fried itself and was useless.

Scrooge McDuck would have a coronary if he knew how much went into these "burn laptops", but that was the price you paid for S.H.U.S.H. secrecy.

Finally, her password was authenticated, and she was granted access to the files. She quickly selected the ones that piqued her interest and finalized her decision. In two hours precisely a non-descript business person will bump into her in town during his break and accidently mix his papers up with whatever she happened to be carrying.

It was all rather elaborate, but if perfectly executed no ordinary person would be suspicious.

Still, this all seemed needlessly dramatic for information on Donald Duck.

She had had her suspicions of the man, but surely what S.H.U.S.H. knew about him and where he could possibly be hiding (because like it or not he was one of the only living relatives of the richest duck in the world and would always be the subject of scrutiny) did not need this much cloak and dagger.

Honestly, what kind of secrets could the accident-prone duck have?

\- woo-woo—

As soon as the scent of food hit him he was instantly awake but being in a somewhat unfamiliar location and with years of experience, he made a show of dragging himself off the couch until he could get his bearings.

A woman's giggle greeted him, "I knew food would be better to wake you with than an alarm-clock."

The blonde duck leaned her head into her living room and grinned.

Donald immediately perked up and rubbed his eyes. That's right, he had made it to her apartment a little before dawn and crashed on her couch. He followed his host and the delicious smell into the kitchen.

Lyla Lay, an old friend of his, had just shut the fridge door and had two cans of Pep. The blonde sat them down next to the bag of burgers she brought home from the diner near her building.

Donald wasted no time taking a seat and digging in. Lyla giggled again and ate at a less frenzied pace.

It amazed Donald to see her joining him in a meal, considering what she was…

"So, did you dream up any excuses?" She asked in between bites.

Donald swallowed awkwardly and thumped his chest a few times before guzzling his soda. That was the reason WHY he had crashed on her couch. He glanced past her concerned face to the digital clock reading 12:35 P.M.

He was NOT hiding from his family, he was just… giving them and himself some space.

"Not yet", he finally coughed out. She relaxed a bit after he took a deep breathe.

What was he supposed to tell them anyway? An old adversary of his set him off and his battle instincts kicked in? Lena's recording startled him, and he forgot that he was not wearing his old mask?

There were too many questions he did not want to answer.

"You could tell them the truth", she hurriedly continued before he could squawk out a denial. "It's your best shot if you want to smooth things over."

He harrumphed in his seat and refused to make eye contact.

"You don't have to go into all the details", she swirled her soda a bit in the can, "just something like, hey, I was a masked vigilante for a few years and I fought that guy. He's bad news so don't go looking for him".

Donald had to crack a small smile at her lousy impression of him. Her smirk behind her can would have sparked his annoyance again if she hadn't been one of his best and closest friends.

"Speaking of details", he continued after a bite, "why didn't you tell me you "retired"?"

She didn't choke or do a spit-take. She had far too much control for that. But the flush of embarrassment up her neck and on her cheeks was a product of amazing forethought and design.

She paused for a moment before meeting his gaze.

"I suppose, I was embarrassed." Her assignment meant everything to her.

Not the journalist job. That was fun, and it certainly helped, but it was second to her real work.

"Why?" Donald was honestly puzzled. "You did good work, why not enjoy retirement?"

"BECAUSE!" Lyla slammed her hand into the table, leaving a fist-sized dent in the steel. "What's my purpose now? What do I do?"

Donald calmly picked up their tipped over cans and moved the burgers away from the spill. Lyla placed her hands in her lap and watched as her guest cleaned her accident and got them another round of Pep form her fridge.

Lyla accepted the can with a quiet, "thank you."

Donald sat but didn't open his can. He watched the woman until she calmed herself.

"The Time Police was my existence", she spilled her synthetic heart to him. "Literally. I was designed for the work. After my last software update, Odin Eidolon himself supervised my transfer to a new chassis. He called it my "gold watch". Didn't understand the reference until my supervisors gave me a choice. Either stay in the future and get a civilian job or return and live out "Lyla Lay's" days in the past."

"And you returned?" Donald questioned.

"Of course", she appeared on the verge of tears. Another new feature of her new body. "This has become my home. Far more than anywhere in the future. How could I leave you, and everyone else?"

"And now you just report the news?"

Regaining some of her humor, she mock chastised the man. "I do far more than just report the news Donald! But, it was useful. I could keep an eye on potential time disruptions from Channel 00 newsroom. Now, I don't know if I want to continue doing something that reminds me of what I once was."

He didn't know what to say, or how to comfort her. Daisy used to complain that he was uncaring brute. He cared, just like with most things he did he was clumsy at it.

He reached over and patted her shoulder awkwardly. The absurdity of the action brought a small smile to her face and a cheeky grin to his.

They continued eating in companionable silence.

Donald was lost in thought. He had to take care of his little slip up in front of his family, potential problems from the Raider (and Donald was CERTAIN he would return sooner or later) and he needed to help his friend. They hadn't been as close lately, but that will have to change. She seemed to need a shoulder to lean on and Donald Fauntleroy Duck always supported his friends.

And maybe everything would work out nice and easy for once.

Yeah, and maybe Gladstone would fall overboard on his trip.


End file.
